Angélil started out as a pop singer in the 1960s in Montréal, Angélil formed a pop rock group, "The Baronets", with childhood friends Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne. They were known as "Québec's Smithtones"[citation needed] by the name of Les Baronnets. This group had some hits in the 1960s as "C'est fou, mais c'est tout" on YouTube (a translation of the Beatles' song "Hold Me Tight") catering to the Quebec market for translations of English-language pop hits from the United Kingdom or the United States. After the dissolution of the group, Angélil and best friend Guy Cloutier began managing artists.

Together they managed the career of two successful Québec entertainers René Simard and Ginette Reno, among many other pop stars of the time. They parted ways in 1981 to each become solo managers. At the end of 1980 (not long after being replaced as Ginette's manager) René heard Celine Dion's demo tape. In 1987 and 1988, he won the Félix Award for Manager of the Year.

In July 2008, Angélil was named the director for the reality television show Star Academie's fourth season, scheduled to start in February 2009.[3]

In 1966, he married his first wife, Denyse Duquette, the couple had one son, Patrick Angélil (born 1968). In 1974, he married singer Manon Kirouac, called Anne Renée on the stage:[citation needed] the couple had two children, Jean Pierre Angélil (born 1974) and Anne Marie Angélil (born 1977), whose husband is Quebec singer-songwriter Marc Dupré. On December 17, 1994, he married Celine Dion. Celine met him when she was twelve. Dion is 26 years younger than Angélil. Their son, René Charles Angélil, was born January 25, 2001. On August 18, 2009, the couple announced that Dion was pregnant with their second child. It was announced three months later that Dion had miscarried. On May 30, 2010, Celine Dion's representative announced that Dion was 14 weeks pregnant.[4] On October 23, 2010, Dion and Angélil welcomed fraternal twin boys. The boys were named Eddy Angelil, after Eddy Marnay, who produced Dion's first five albums, and Nelson Angelil, after Nelson Mandela. Angélil is fan of NHL hockey, and he is a good friend of former Colorado Avalanche president and general manager, Pierre Lacroix.[5]

Angélil was accused by Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung of sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2000 that took place in a Las Vegas hotel. These charges were later investigated by Las Vegas police. Although Angélil eventually paid $2 million to settle, Angélil never admitted to doing anything wrong, always maintaining the settlement was to avoid negative publicity that might upset his wife Celine Dion.

Yun and her husband, Ae Ho Kwon, were later arrested in 2003 and charged with trying to extort money from Angélil over a false rape claim. The couple were convicted in 2005.[12]

In 2001, Angélil, along with his wife Celine Dion, filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Quebec tabloid Allo Vedettes' for printing a story alleging the couple paid $5,000 to rent out the swimming pool of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas so that Celine could sunbathe topless and René could go skinny dipping, allegations they strenuously denied[citation needed]. They later withdrew the case, saying it was not a priority in light of the terrorist events of 9/11[citation needed].

A frenzy of speculation as to how much Angélil spends in casinos was created when Jan Jones, former Las Vegas mayor and high ranking executive at Harrah's Communications, was quoted by a reporter from the London-based newspaper The Observer as saying, "Celine Dion's husband is a big gambler. He probably gambles $1 million in a week, but he can afford to." Caesar's Entertainment, owner company of Harrah's, later stated Jan Jones' allegations were without merit.